Jammu and Kashmir impasse: BJP leaders to consult party seniors on deadlock

Nearly a month after PDP chief and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's demise, there still appears to be little clarity on who will form the government in the state. Senior BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir will meet the party high command in New Delhi later in the day to discuss the political situation in the state.

As the impasse over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir drags on, Governor NN Vohra has written to the PDP and the BJP is seeking to know their stand on the issue. Vohra has called the PDP chief as well as the state BJP chief Sat Pal Sharma for a meeting on Tuesday for the purpose, CNN-IBN reported.

With the alliance between the PDP on the BJP on tenterhooks, the state continues to be under President's Rule.

BJP chief Amit Shah with Mehbooba Mufti. File photo. PTI

The confusion on the future course of action got further compounded on Sunday when Mehbooba Mufti told her party leaders she was not ready to become the chief minister of the state "for nothing". Mehbooba has sought time bound assurances from the Centre on the implementation of the agenda of alliance between her party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mehbooba Mufti said that for her late father, the alliance was based on "trust and belief that it will translate into real relief for the people of the state which ultimately would also serve the national interest and also bring peace into the sub-continent between India and Pakistan.

PDP, with 27 MLAs in the 87-member Assembly and BJP with 25 legislators, ran a coalition government headed by Mufti Sayeed for 10 months before his demise on 7 January.

As this Firstpost article points out, the fate of the alliance between the two parties is affected by several factors, including the credibility levels of the PDP, flood rehabilitation efforts and internal conflicts within the PDP.